You just turned 23 months old and you are going to be two years old in less than a month! You are beginning to grasp the concept of your birthday and can tell us, when asked, that your birthday is on Halloween and it is October "firty-first". Grammy gave you a shirt last year that says "October 31" on it and we call it your birthday shirt. You love to wear it.
Enough about your birthday for right now, though. We still have a month to go! We want to write down a few things about what you're up to right now, at 23 months. One thing right off the bat - you have learned to smile for the camera. It is this totally over the top smile complete with throwing your head back and you do it every time someone pulls out a camera. We thought we'd showcase a selection of those photos here today...
First, you've learned to say your full name. This started as a game with one of your little friends, in which I went back and forth telling you both what your full names were. You first thought that your full name was "Uncle (last name)", which Mommy and I found hilarious, but now you can say your first, middle, and last names. You still throw in Uncle (last name) sometimes just to get a laugh. You've deduced that saying it is funny from listening to me tell several people about the whole thing. You really are listening all the time!
In other news, we found a cool website called Starfall on the recommendation of our friend, Emily, and you are totally down with it. We started with the section on learning letters and now you and Mommy like to explore the section with interactive stories. You call it "looking for letters" and beg to do it whenever the computer comes out.
On the subject of letters, you love to talk more and more every day. You amaze us all the time with what you can say. You often speak in sentences these days and have your own, unique take on the world. One of our favorite things is that you say "you" often when you mean "I". Just in the past couple of days, we've noticed you starting to say "I" more. People comment all the time on your vocabulary and how clearly you enunciate. We usually just respond by saying that you love to talk and leave it at that. We feel really lucky that you're so verbal, because we can ask you to use your words when you start to get frustrated and you will usually tell us what's going on.
Mommy has been speaking Spanish with you in the afternoons ever since the school year started. You have picked up quite a few words and phrases already. We'll hear you reading a book in Spanish to yourself and sometimes, when you want us to read a particular book, you'll say "Este libro. Este libro!"
You are also really digging music these days. Your music class has started up again and we just went to our second class of the semester today. You particularly enjoy the "hello" song that we sing at the start of every class. You love to have me sing it in the car and we say hello to everything in the world. A sampling of the things we greeted on the way to our friends' house today: Mama, Mommy, baby Talia, every single truck we passed (ie, "the green green tractor trailer truck!" or "the orange orange cement mixer truck!" You like to say colors twice when they apply to trucks, as if for more emphasis), the trees, the freeway, the seats in the car, the cars on the road, etc. I'm sure they all felt very well acknowledged.
You are starting to try to sing. Mostly, it's songs from our music class, but you've thrown in some others, too. I was singing you this song I learned in elementary school about the worms crawling in and out and you started up trying to sing it. You don't have too many different voice tones yet, but you're getting there.
You're getting more interested in stacking and building things. Your blocks have taken on new importance. You've been wanting to build towers as well as making interpretive versions of different trucks, such as tractor trailer trucks and moving trucks.
Other physical things: you're trying really hard to learn to jump. You've made it off the ground a few times! It's pretty cute to watch you try to overcome gravity for a second. Also, you're eating more with utensils and becoming more competent with an open cup. We've been trying to encourage this and, hence, have cleaned up quite a few spills recently. You get really upset when you spill something and often want to help clean it up.
You've had some difficult behavior developments recently, too. You've discovered how to really whine and have started putting it into practice. You've also been testing limits more and have gotten into a clingy stage with Mama, which is probably because she started a new job and isn't around as much as she used to be. We're trying to work with this and really have a lot to learn! We do notice that the more consistent we are, the better things go, so I guess all we have to do is be more consistent and things will go perfectly. Ha!
In terms of sleep, we have only good things to say. You consistently sleep through the night now. You usually go down right after Mama gets home from work, around 7 pm, and sleep to somewhere between 6 and 7 am. You often wake up fussing in the night at some point and almost always get yourself back down on your own without much trouble. Mama usually goes in if you get too upset, but you almost never do. We love it! We have all ridden on quite the sleep roller coaster together and getting to this point feels really good.
Now that the cold weather is starting up, our house heating system has been coming on, and that fascinates you. You looove it when the air starts blowing out of the heating vents!
Mateo, we can't believe our little guy is about to be a two-year-old boy! We could not be more happy and proud that you are our son. Happy 23 months and here's to a great end to your second year.
All our love,
Mommy and Mama
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